ITN has made a documentary where they put two children in a crowded shopping centre and told them to pretend to be lost. One person helped them; six hundred did not. I gather that part of the reason people didn't stop was that they were worried someone would mistake them for a child molester.

You remember that in the Good Samaritan story, the priest and the Levite passed the injured man by because they were worried society would stigmatise them as ritually unclean if they touched a corpse. And here, people ignore lost children because they're worried society will stigmatise them as dangerous perverts if they talk to stranger children.

(FWIW, I decided a long time ago that I would *always* question unaccompanied children despite any risk of misinterpretation by others.)

Why are there so many songs about graveyardsAnd what's on the Other Side?Graveyards are placesWith many an entranceFrom smallpox to suicideSome people say that we rest there forever;I know they're wrong, wait and seeSome day we'll find itThe graveyard connectionThe vampires, the zombies, and me

A child at Brighton has been left to drown:A railway train has jumped the line at Crewe:I haven't got the change for half-a-crown:I can't imagine what on earth to do...Three bisons have stampeded from the zoo.A German fleet has anchored in the Clyde.By God the wretched country's up the flue!The ice is breaking up on every side.

What! Further news? Rhodesian stocks are down?England, my England, can the news be true!Cannot the Duke be got to come to town?Or will not Mr Hooper pull us through?And now the bank is stopping payment too,The chief cashier has cut his throat and died,And Scotland Yard has failed to find a clue:The ice is breaking up on every side.

A raging mob inflamed by Charley BrownIs tearing up the rails at Waterloo;They've hanged the Chancellor in wig and gown,The Speaker and the Chief Inspector too!Police! Police! Is this the road to Kew?I can't keep up: my garter's come untied:I shall be murdered by the savage crew.The ice is breaking up on every side.

Prince of the Empire, Prince of Timbuctoo,Prince eight feet round and nearly four feet wide,Do try to run a little faster, do.The ice is breaking up on every side.

Thought from last night: If IRC had a protocol extension meaning "if the client disconnects without warning, do nothing for n seconds, and if a later connection authenticates as the same client within that time, pick up the session seamlessly", it would make using IRC from mobile devices much easier and obviate much of the need for running bouncers. I may look at the source of dancer and see whether that would be possible. What do you think?

What deaths men have died, not fighting but impotent. Hung on the wire, between trenches, burning and freezing, Groaning for water with armies of men so near; The fall over cliff, the clutch at the rootless grass, The beach rushing up, the whirling, the turning headfirst; Stiff writhings of strychnine, taken in error or haste, Angina pectoris, shudders of the heart; Failure and crushing by flying weight to the ground, Claws and jaws, the stink of a lion's breath; Swimming, a white belly, a crescent of teeth, Agony, and a spirting shredded limb, And crimson blood staining the green water; And, horror of horrors, the slow grind on the rack, The breaking bones, the stretching and bursting skin, Perpetual fainting and waking to see above The down-thrust mocking faces of cruel men, With the power of mercy, who gloat upon shrieks for mercy.

O pity me, God! O God, make tolerable, Make tolerable the end that awaits for me, And give me courage to die when the time comes, When the time comes as it must, however it comes, That I shrink not nor scream, gripped by the jaws of the vice; For the thought of it turns me sick, and my heart stands still, Knocks and stands still. O fearful, fearful Shadow, Kill me, let me die to escape the terror of thee!

A tap. Come in! Oh, no, I am perfectly well, Only a little tired. Take this one, it's softer. How are things going with you? Will you have some coffee? Well, of course it's trying sometimes, but never mind, It will probably be all right. Carry on, and keep cheerful. I shouldn't, if I were you, meet trouble half-way, It is always best to take everything as it comes.